Neutrino Detection: Challenges And ThrillsIt has been often quoted Every

great physical theory starts as a

heresy and ends as a dogma.

Though the philosophical aspects

of the above argument are

immensely profound but it's

undeniable to the extent our rich

scientific history speaks of. Be it

Copern i can theory o r the

e x p l a n a t i o n o f F o u c a u l t

pendulum, science has always

r e n d e r e d p e o p l e w i t h a n

insightful perspective into the

understanding of our own

universe.

To this seemingly endless quest

for knowledge, fortifies the

fundamental breakthroughs in

par t i c l e phys i cs f rom the

discovery of electron to the

discovery of the famous Higgs

boson. Physicists have probed

deep into the intricate structure

of matter to reveal the secrets of

this incomprehensible design in

which we dwell. This motivation

has helped them discover scores

of exotic particles hovering in our

universe. And among them is the

v e r y p o p u l a r a n d e l u s i v e

neutrino predicted in 1930 by

Wolfgang Pauli which still

remains one of the most sought

after particles in the current

scientific research.

N e u t r i n o s a r e w e a k l y

interacting, electrically neutral

and ultral ight e lementary

particles with half integral spin.

Since neutrinos are neutral

particles and their properties

remain coherently similar to

their antiparticles: anti neutrino,

they are historically thought to

be Majorana particles, the

particles which have the same

anti particles. Neutrinos have

r e m a i n e d m y s t e r i o u s f o r

generations because of their very

weak interaction with normal

matter. Neutrinos can easily

t r a v e l t h r o u g h e n o r m o u s

distance comparable to ten folds

of an astronomical unit through

water without being detected, so

weakly do they interact with the

ordinary matter. The concept of

neutrino was borne out as an

explanation to understand how

beta decay could conserve energy,

m o m e n t u m a n d a n g u l a r

momentum.

From what we know today, a

majority of the neutrinos floating

around were born around 15

billion years ago, soon after the

birth of the universe. Since then,

the universe has continuously

expanded and cooled , and

neutrinos have just kept on

going. Theoretically, there are

now so many neutrinos that they

constitute a cosmic background

radiation whose temperature is

1.9 degree Kelvin (-271.2 degree

Celsius). Other neutrinos are

constantly being produced from

nuclear power stations, particle

accelerators, nuclear bombs,

general atmospheric phenomena,

and during the births, collisions,

and deaths of stars, particularly

the explosions of supernovae.

During the past four decades or

so, tremendous amount of focus

has been laid upon building

technologically sophisticated

chambers and instruments to

detect neutrinos and we did have

success in detecting them though

in very small but significant

amounts. A practical method for

investigating neutrino masses

(that is, flavor oscillation) was

f i r s t s u g g e s t e d b y B r u n o

Pontecorvo in 1957 using an

analogy with the neutral kaon (a

nuclear particle) system; over the

s u b s e q u e n t 1 0 y e a r s h e

developed the mathematical

formalism and the modern

f o r m u l a t i o n o f v a c u u m

oscillations. Similar kind of

subsequent results were also

later shown by many research

groups working all around the

world.

Today, Japan has emerged out as

the forerunner in neutrino

physics at the global level. The

elegantly designed structures

like Super Kamiokande under

Mount Kamioka which obtained

the first evidence of neutrino

oscillation in 1998 have proven to

be of immense utility.

This mammoth structure is a

stainless steel tank that is 41.4

metres tall and 39.3 metres in

diameter holding 50000 tons of

u l t r a p u r e w a t e r . W h e n

neutrinos interact with the

electrons or nuclei of water, they

produce charged particles which

can travel faster than the speed of

light in water. Such an event

generates a cone of light known

as the Cherenkov radiation

which is optically equivalent to a

sonic boom. The Cherenkov light

is projected as a ring on the wall

of the detector and recorded by

the photon multipliers. The

sharpness of the edge of the rings

can give indications about the

type of the particle.

Such detectors have been and are

being built all around the globe to

p r o b e i n t o t h e e n i g m a

surrounding this elusive particle.

Dollars and cents are being

poured in and out to support the

international research groups in

the i r e f f o r t s t o carry out

e x t e n s i v e s t u d i e s a n d

experimentation on the detection

of such particles. The flame

within which burns our curiosity

to understand the universe will

surely open exotic dimensions

and illuminate our voyage.

Page 2

GRAVITATIONAL

WAVES

Page 3

NSSC EVENTS

Page 4

THE

HOLOGRAPHIC

UNIVERSE

Page 5

THE BIGGEST EYE

IN THE SKY: SKA

Page 6

OUR SPONSORS

WHATS INSIDE?

Gravitational waves are one the

greatest predictions of Einstein's

theory of general relativity. In

general relativity, gravitation is

explained through the curvature

of space-time. Massive objects

bend - and the curvature of

space-time tells objects how to

move. It is the influence of

curved space-time that we call

gravity..

W h a t a r e g r a v i t a t i o n a l

waves?

The most common way that is

used to describe gravity in the

picture proposed by Einstein is to

imagine spacetime as a stretched

rubber sheet. If we roll a table

tennis ball across the sheet it

would move in a straight line, just

like an object would travel in a

straight line in the absence of

gravity. Now, if we to put a

bowling ball in the middle of the

sheet, it would stretch. This is the

bending of spacetime due to

gravity. If we roll the table tennis

ball across the sheet again, it

would now follow a curved path.

It is attracted towards the

bowling ball because of its

gravity. When massive objects

move, the curvature of spacetime

must change to follow their new

positions. It takes time for

s p a c e t i m e t o r e a c t , a s

information can only propagate

at the speed of light. There are

therefore ripples in spacetime,

just like there will be ripples on a

pond if you disturb its surface.

These ripples in spacetime are

gravitational waves.

A m o r e f a m i l i a r w a v e i s

electromagnetic (EM) radiation

o r l i g h t . E M w a v e s a r e

oscillations of the electric and

m a g n e t i c f i e l d s , w h i l s t

g r a v i t a t i o n a l w a v e s a r e

oscillations of spacetime. EM

w a v e s a r e p r o d u c e d b y

accelerating charges, whilst

gravitational waves are produced

by accelerating masses. For

gravitational waves we also need

an asymmetry in the system to

produce radiation, for example

we need a binary system and not

just a single non-spinning object;

this can be considered as a

consequence of the conservation

of momentum.

Gravitational waves offer a

unique probe into some of the

most extreme systems in the

Universe. The y originate from

merging supermassive black

holes, from binary stars orbiting

at close to the speed of light, and

from the Big Bang itself. The

challenge in gravitational wave

astronomy is detecting the

waves, and then decoding the

signals to extract the information

they contain.

Sources of gravitational

waves:

Gravitational waves are created

by a wide range of phenomena,

each of which can teach us

something interesting about the

Universe.

Black hole mergers: One of the

ways that galaxies evolve is

through mergers. There is

evidence to suggest that a

supermassive black hole , a black

hole with a mass of over a million

times the mass of the Sun, lurks

at the center of most galaxies.

When two galaxies collide, the

SMBHs in their centers can also

s p i r a l i n t o g e t h e r . T h e

gravitational radiation emitted

when they collide will be some of

the l oudest events in the

Universe. More energy is emitted

as gravitational radiation from

one SMBH merger than as light

from all the stars in the visible

Universe.

Extreme-mass-ratio inspirals: In

the core of galaxies, compact

objects such as white dwarfs,

neutron stars or black holes, may

travel towards the SMBH at the

center of as a consequence of

scattering form other objects. If

they get close enough, they will

start to inspiral as their orbits

shrink due to the loss of energy

and angular momentum carried

away by gravitational waves.

These are known as extreme-

mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs) on

account of the huge difference in

mass between the SMBH and the

orbiting compact object. The

inspiral is slow, meaning that we

can observe gravitational waves

emi t ted over hundreds o f

thousands of orbits. This allows

us to build up an immensely

detailed picture of the space-time

of the SMBH. These events would

allow us to do fundamental

physics by probing precisely the

strong gravitational field about

the SMBH, and, should we

observe enough, we will be able to

learn more about the stellar

systems in the center of galaxies.

T h e B i g B a n g : W h e n t h e

Universe was very young it

underwent a period of very rapid

expansion. Tiny fluctuations in

space-time would have been

greatly stretched during this

period and could still exist today

as a background of gravitational

waves. This could be detected by

s tudy ing the po lar i zat i on

patterns in the cosmic microwave

background (CMB). With current

instruments it is unlikely, but not

impossible that we will be able to

m e a s u r e t h e b a c k g r o u n d .

However, a right detection would

allow us to better understand the

mechanism that drove early

inflation of the Universe and

probe extremely high energy

physics. The gravitational wave

background would allow us to see

right back to the Big Bang, much

further than we can see using EM

radiation.

Galactic compact binaries::

Compact binaries are made up of

at least one white dwarf or

neutron star which orbits close to

other one. Such sources are so

common in the Galaxy that they

may begin to form a background

of noise.. The binary systems

slowly inspiral as gravitational

waves carry away energy and

momentum. Eventually the two

objects merge. Neutron star-

neutron star mergers are a

potential candidate for short

gamma rays bursts, one of the

most energetic processes in the

Universe.

Phase trans i t ions : As the

Universe evolves from its early

state it goes through a number of

phase transitions which can be

assoc iated with symmetry

breaking or decoupling of forces.

These transitions can create lead

to several different types of

gravitational radiation. imagine

cooling water so that it begins to

f orm i ce . This i s a phase

transition too. Ice startsto form

as small crystals that grow

outwards. The same can happen

in the Universe, small pockets

undergo the transition and these

expand out as a bubble. For

certain types of transitions,

gravitational waves would be

emitted when bubbles collide.

Detection of gravitational

waves:

So far, we only have indirect

evidence the existence for

gravitational waves. Whilst we

h a v e n o t s e e n t h e w a v e s

themselves, we have measured

t h e e n e r g y a n d a n g u l a r

momentum they carry away. We

have observed a number of binary

pulsars. A pulsar is a neutron

star, a dead star that has

collapsed down to a very dense

state, that emits a period signal

(it is observed to pulse). These

signals are highly regular, in fact

pulsars are some of the best

clocks in nature, and this allows

extremely precise measurements

of their motion. Binary pulsars

are systems where a pulsar orbits

a companion, such as a white

dwarf or neutron star (even

another pulsar). We are lucky to

find such wonderful systems.

There is a global community of

s c i e n t i s t s a n d e n g i n e e r s

currently working towards the

f i r s t d i r e c t d e t e c t i o n o f

gravitational waves. To visualise

the effect of a gravitational wave

passing imagine you have a ring

of particles lying in a plane. When

the wave passes through the ring

it is stretched and squeezed,

although the area enclosed

remains the same. Detectors

work by trying to measure the

differences in length across a

detector produced as a wave

passes. The fractional changes in

l e n g t h a r e t i n y , , s o t h e

measurements are extremely

difficult. That is the same as

trying to measure the distance

from the Earth to the Sun to the

accuracy of the size of a hydrogen

atom !!!

Gravitational Waves

The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success.

CO

NV

EY

OR Can you imagine yourself going to an unknown planet and remedying the existing

operations with nothing but your trusted wireless robot?

Problem Statement: Build a manually controlled bot having an onboard camera,

which can be controlled from a remote location, using wired or wireless (preferred)

communication. The bot should be capable holding and putting small blocks which will

resemble broken rail pieces and resources in this case. During the course of the run,

participants have to do the task while looking into the input they get from the onboard

camera, the controller of the bot would not be allowed to look at the bot during the run

under any circumstances.

DESIGNEER Gone are those days when people took 8 long years for

building a shuttle or telescope.

Innovation now days are just a

blink of an eye. And with the

new and improving modern

technology, building these

innovations are not at all

difficult. Scientists and

engineers now focus on

improving the efficiency and

design of the same. Hence,

National Students' Space

Challenge invites all the young mind to brainstorm to solve a similar

problem overnight.

Problem Statement: Participant have to give an optimized CAD

design of the given problem statement overnight. The exact problem

statement will be released just before the event. Some component of

CAD will be provided. Participant have to submit a design report on

their CAD to validate their design.

With all the orbits almost packed with

satellites, it is high time that a satellite

capable of taking up more responsibilities

comes into the picture. . The satellite

should have the ability to move to lower

orbits for fixing shuttles, medium orbits

for monitoring weather and higher orbits

for the positioning. But this will not be

achieved unless the satellite is able to

change its orbit during motion. Hence, we

present you a challenge that will force you

to brainstorm in order to design and build

a robot capable of changing orbits by itself.

Problem Statement: The participants are required to design and

build a completely autonomous robot which can maneuver and

change its orbit around a given celestial body (an opaque obstacle) in

a minimum amount of time.

Problem Statement: The team has to build a

manually controlled rover which can traverse the

Maze, a 3-dimensional underwater space-simulated

tunnel completing several tasks in least possible

time. . It should have a picking mechanism attached

as well which will be used in completing some tasks.

The bot has to change its depth for successful

transport of the payload. The path may have floating

obstacles that might partially obstruct the path of

the rover and the robot has to avoid those obstacles

by appropriate changes in orientation and position.

HOVERPOD

LIF

T-O

FF

BUILD.INNOVATE.ACHIEVE

BU

OY

AN

T

TR

OC

HIA

The Moonwalk

3

Ever dreamt of being able to maneuver land and water with the same vehicle. If yes then this

event has been tailor-made for you.

Problem Statement: The team has to build a manually controlled, wireless, hovercraft

that has the capacity to move through a predefined path. The path would not entirely consist

of ground, but would have varied terrain, having potholes, water and other kinds of terrains

as specified in the arena below. The aim of the participant is to rake up the maximum points

to win the task.

The water rocketry challenge is a competition to build a rocket powered by pressurized water. The

competition focuses on designing aerodynamically better rockets that would be capable of targeted

flights when launched at a particular angle from the horizontal. The participants need to study the

basics of rocketry and come up with their own designs.

Problem Statement: Design and Build a single stage water rocket which can be launched at any

angle with respect to the horizontal.

Problem Statement: Your

team has to give a proposal

for dealing with energy crisis

by harnessing energy from

space. You can propose to

b u i l d o r d e v i s e n e w

e q u i p m e n t o r s u g g e s t

modifications in methods

which are already available.

The proposal should include

exact construction details, feasibility, technology,

timeline and cost of your endeavor.

E-SPACE

NA

TIO

NA

L S

TUD

EN

TS

SP

AC

E C

HA

LLEN

GE '14

st

31 Oct-

nd

2 Nov

EXHIBITIONS AND WORKSHOPSAjay Talwar is the most prolific

transient sky events photographer in

India.

Dr. B.S. Acharya is an Indian scientist

working in the Department of High

Energy Physics of the Tata Institute of

Fundamental Research. He will be

delivering a lecture on the topic The

Universe viewed in Gamma Rays.

GUEST LECTURES

NSSC provides you with a unique opportunity to witness the various robots used

in the space missions by ISRO through an exhibition organized by Gridbots. We

will also have an exhibition of astrophotography during our fest.

The CanSat Satellite designing and launching workshop is one of its kind in India

aiming to equip basic embedded knowledge on satellite to engineering college

students. The workshop will teach the basics of what a satellite is and how they can

be designed using basics of electronics and micro-controller programming.

There will also be free workshops on Humanoid robots and Facial recognition. All

the workshops are certified.

Before Einstein, mankind

perceived the world molded

around into 3 dimensional

shaped objects and it was

afterwards when Einstein set

f o r t h t i m e a s a n e x t r a

d i m e n s i o n e l i c i t i n g t h e

pedagogical transformation,

for now (the) world time was

not just ticking hands stuck

onto the wal ls but what

exorbitantly appeared in

c a l c u l a t i o n s t o o .

B u t t h e c o n c e p t o f f o u r

dimensions didn't seem to

accomplish the job of uniting

Einsteinium dynamics with the

Quantum world. It was then

the string theory came into

p i c t u r e w h i c h f o s t e r e d

scientific thinking with the

idea of another 7 dimensions.

Even after so much progress

and development in the field of

theoretical physics, things

didn't seem to tune up with

Alain Aspect's experiment

conducted with electrons which

seemed to communicate with

each other instantaneously

regardless of the distance

separating them, be it 10 feet or

1 0 b i l l i o n m i l e s a p a r t .

Somehow each particle always

seems to know what the other is

doing. Many scientists were

seeing new facets of science

through Aspect's experiment

with the potential to establish a

new order and revolutionize

the modern day physics. B u t

t h e r e a l f e a t o f t h e

experimental observations

crept in with the violation of

Einstein's long held tenet-

cosmological speed limit i.e.

nothing in this universe can

travel faster than speed of

light.

Aspect's findings were

q u e s t i o n i n g t h e v e r y

foundation of science and

centuries of physics seemed to

be shredding down to

pieces. Somehow scientists had

to come up with explanations to

o f f e r s u p p o r t t o t h e

observations, but to some, like

Bohme, more radical

explanations had to

come as a conclusive

proof of the Aspect's

f i n d i n g s .

T h e r e s u l t s w e r e

tantamount to behavior of a

hologram where universe

rather comes out of the picture

in an even more intricate form

when talked in terms of

dimensions, be it spatial or

temporal. As Bohme expressed

in his words-"Aspect's findings

imply that objective reality

does not exist, that despite its

apparent solidity the universe

is at heart a phantasm, a

g i g a n t i c a n d s p l e n d i d l y

d e t a i l e d H o l o g r a m " .

A hologram as peculiar in

behavior is indivisible; every

p i e c e c u t s t i l l c a r r i e s

information of whole image.

This goes down with same

behav ior even when cut

further. Conclusively every

minute segment is a whole

hologram in itself bearing

information of every other

segment. Universe could just

be behaving in a similar

manner according to Bohme.

To illustrate Aspect's

findings a fish aquarium sets

out as a paradigm, as when

watched from two different

s ides same f i sh appears

differently. In a very similar

way the behavior of two

electrons in the experiment

could be restated in a manner

that the electrons behaving

s i m u l t a n e o u s l y

communicating with each other

regardless of the distance

separating them could be just a

single entity.

Of several scientific

explanations burgeoned to offer

credence, the theory of the very

existence of our 3 D universe

on a gigantic 4-D Black Hole

seemed more creditable. The

exposition of the conundrum

roots from the notorious Black

Hole information paradox. As

we are familiar with an adage

o n b l a c k h o l e s , e v e r y

astrophysical article mentions

Nothing can escape from

black hole's intense gravity, not

even light, if it were true then

a general conclusion comes

forth as -if nothing really

escapes black holes then

conclusively all the information

m u s t b e g e t t i n g l o s t

somewhere. Here is how

paradox comes into picture

defying the universal mass-

energy cons i s t ency l aw .

H o w e v e r , t h e t h e o r y o f

holographic universe could

success fu l ly exp la in the

paradox in perspective that

information is never lost into

black hole's inescapable gravity

instead gets embedded on its

surface patching up all over its

surfaces in 2-D information

form.

Getting back from

where we started overviewing

over the explanation so far, it

turns out that information in

3D form once sucked into black

holes get embedded onto its

surface in 2 dimension. This

theory explicably conforms

the conjecture of 4-D Hyper

Black Hole our 3-D universe

might have spawned from,

a p o s s i b l e f o r t h r i g h t

explanation of homogenous and

isotropic characteristic of

visible universe tuning up with

analogy of expanding balloon

universe paradigm with no

center of expansion.

A h o m o l o g y f o r

dummies to make it even

clearer can be excerpted from

balancing acts performed in

circuses. For an actor the path

line (the rope) as he perceives

would be one dimensional

while walking on it, now

consider the microorganisms

living within the rope invisible

to our naked eyes would see the

same rope as 2-D surface to

walk on or a 3-D warehouse to

roam or poop into (a little pun ).

David Bohme is not the

only researcher who has found

the evidence that the universe

i s a Ho logram. Working

independently in the field of

brain research, Stanford

n e u r o p h y s i o l o g i s t , K a r l

Pribram too queued in pursuit

of answers though holographic

hypothesis which somehow

a t o n e d w i t h t h e e r r a t i c

behavior and working of brain.

Pr ibram discovered that

information stored within the

brain behaved in frantic

manner and were never stored

at any specific spot pertaining

to how brain too emulated

h o l o g r a m w o r k i n g

astoundingly. Further, the

experiments with mice's brain

showed staggering results, no

matter in what ways its brain

was muti lated i t a lways

s e e m e d t o r e m e m b e r

everything, the memory could

never be eradicated completely

as if it was dispensed to every

brain part. Or it could be as

h o l o g r a p h i c h y p o t h e s i s

suggests, even the fraction of

the brain is working as a whole

just like a Hologram.

N u m e r o u s

researchers, including Bohme

and Pribram, have noted that

many para-psychological

phenomena became much more

understandable in terms of the

Holographic paradigm. Thus

Holographic science has let

many scientists solve some of

the unso lved puzz les in

psychology offering model of

understanding many baffling

phenomena around.

The Holographic Universe

THE SLIDING SPRING COMET is a part of the Oort cloud, a mass of icy comets at the furthest reaches of our solar system. It's going to fly by Mars at a mind blowing speed of about 56 kmph on Monday at 5.27am (Australian time). In fact, it'll

pass Mars at a distance of 139,500 kilometers - just one third of the distance from here to the Moon. That's much, much closer than any comet

has ever flown by Earth that we know of. These Oort cloud comets are extremely rare, and astronomers are keen to find out more about them.

Luckily, our Mars rovers and orbiters will be watching the fly-by closely - along with the Hubble Space Telescope and hundreds of other

instruments on Earth.Theres no danger to Curiosity on the surface of Mars as the rover is protected by the planets thin atmosphere.

However, theres the small chance that the dust and debris from the comets tail will damage the spacecraft orbiting Mars, such as Maven and

India's Mangalyaan. NASA is now "taking steps to protect is Mars orbiters, while preserving opportunities to gather valuable scientfic data".

4 Reason, observation, and experience; the holy trinity of science

th

On August the 11 , 2014,

India's National Centre for

Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) th

became the 11 full member of

the Square Kilometer Array

(SKA) radio-telescope project.

The SKA is being designed and

developed as the state-of-the-art

International facility to conduct

five to six main science projects

w h i c h w i l l a n s w e r t h e

f u n d a m e n t a l q u e s t i o n s

regarding our Universe.

The data from the SKA will be

used to answer several of the

most crit ical questions in

various fields like Astrophysics,

C o s m o l o g y a n d p a r t i c l e

Astrophysics. By picking up

radio waves emitted in the most

extreme condit ions of the

Universe, the SKA will be

helpful in deciphering the

u n k n o w n s l i k e E p o c h o f

Reionization (EoR), First metals

and galaxies, Dark Energy,

C o s m i c m a g n e t i s m ,

Gravitational waves, Theories of

gravity, Earthlike exo-planets

and intelligent alien life. This

c o n c i s e l i s t o f s c i e n t i f i c

applications gives a glimpse of

the vast spread of research

subjects the SKA will address.

The SKA is the most advanced

r a d i o t e l e s c o p e e v e r

conceptualized. As the name

suggests, the area of the dishes

of SKA that will collect radio

waves from outer space will add

up to a large expanse of 1 square

kilometer. The SKA will make

use o f des ign t e chn iques

developed over last half-a-

century. 'Aperture synthesis' is

the most useful design concept

being utilized. The SKA is a

radio interferometer where

vo l tages induced a t each

antenna by the electromagnetic

waves coming from cosmic radio

sources are combined to produce

a map of the radio sky. The large

number of antennae results in

improved sensitivity of the

t e l e s c o p e . T h e e f f e c t i v e

synthesized aperture size of the

SKA will be up to a mammoth

one million square meters!

Most modern radio telescopes

have a resolution in arc minutes

to arc seconds. For example,

India's Giant Metrewave Radio

Telescope (GMRT), has the

highest resolution of about 2

arcseconds and 20 arcseconds at

1420 and 150 MHz respectively.

The Very Large Array (VLA) of

the US has a highest resolution

that is in the range of 0.045

arcseconds and 24.0 arcseconds

a t 4 5 G H z a n d 7 4 M H z

r e s p e c t i v e l y . T h e S K A ' s

resolution is a function of the

Field Of View (FOV) being used.

For an observing area of 1 square

degree, a resolution of 0.1

arcseconds can be achieved and

for an observing area of 200

square degrees, the resolution is

0.2 arcseconds.

The SKA is planned to be built in

two parts, one in the state of

western Australia and the other

in Karoo region of central South

Africa which are radio quiet

zones. In the first phase, 3

different types of receivers will

b e b u i l t .

1. SKA-Low: A low frequency

aperture array consisting of

many thousands of dipoles. This

receiver has no moving parts.

2. SKA-Mid: A mid-frequency

array of steerable dishes, each 15

m i n d i a m e t e r .

3. SKA-Survey: A multi-pixel

phased array feed will be placed

on many dishes which will be

capab le o f mid - f requency

observations over a large area of

sky at once. This receiver will

primarily be used for large area

sky surveys.

SKA-Low and SKA-Survey will

be built in Australia. In Phase 2,

a dense aperture array system

w i l l b e a d d e d .

The SKA Phase 1 construction is

expected to begin in 2017, and

complete in 2022 at a cost of 400

million Euro. The full SKA

construction (from 2022 to 2027)

will attract a cost of 1.5 billion.

Till the first phase of SKA is

completed, the next generation

of optical telescopes such as the

European Extremely Large

Telescope and the Thirty meter

Telescope will have come up.

These will complement the SKA

in the optical region.

Given the high cost ,technical

complexity in designing and the

engineering chal lenges in

building it, the SKA needs a joint

International e f fort . This

I n t e r n a t i o n a l e f f o r t i s

c o o r d i n a t e d b y t h e S K A

Organisation, a not-for-profit

company located in Manchester,

UK. It is joined by 11 countries :

Canada, Italy, China, Germany,

New Zealand, South Africa,

Sweden, The Netherlands, The

UK and most recently joined by

India's NCRA-TIFR. Many

inst i tutes f rom India are

interested in participating in the

project including partners from

Indian Industries. The NCRA -

TIFR and the Raman Research

Institute (RRI) are leading the

I n d i a n p a r t i c i p a t i o n .

Indian entities like the NCRA

have done a lot of work in the

field of radio telescope design

and construction and gained

expertise over a period of time by

constructing, operating and

upgrading major facilities like

the Ooty Radio Telescope and

the GMRT. During the concept

design phase of the SKA (2007-

12), NCRA astronomers and

engineers have successfully

carried out the Concept Design

Review of a state of the art

control and monitoring system

for this extremely complex

instrument. Using its expertise,

NCRA is now leading an

International consortium of 7

countries that has taken up the

work of design and development

of Telescope Manager which will

be completed till 2016. The

Telescope Manager (TM)

subsystem is a version of the

monitoring and control system

and it will act like the brain and

n e r v o u s s y s t e m o f t h e

instrument. The TM Consortium

is led by Professor Yashwant

Gupta of the NCRA in Pune,

India. Dr. Yogesh Wadadekar,

NCRA Faculty member is the

P r o j e c t S c i e n t i s t o f t h e

Consortium. The Tata Research

Design and Development Centre

of TCS is one of the major Indian

partners of NCRA in the TM

Consortium. In addition, NCRA

and its Indian partners are also

p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n o t h e r

subsystems of the SKA like the

Central Signal Processor ,

Signal and Data Transport etc.

The returns to SKA project

participation of India are

i n v a l u a b l e a n d w i l l h e l p

extensively in the development

science and technology field.

Scientists from many astronomy

research institutes, IISERS,

IITs and some of the universities

are keenly interested for

participation in scientific and

technical activities related to the

SKA. It wil l al low Indian

astronomers to take up cutting

edge research with the SKA. It

will also drive the development

of new technologies in India that

will be of benefit to the nation's

astronomy community. It will

a l s o p r o v i d e s i g n i f i c a n t

opportunities for growth and

technology innovation to Indian

industry.

To summarize, the SKA will

provide information on an

unprecedented scale. This will

help answer many fundamental

questions about the Universe

and certainly create many more

questions as well. In the next

d e c a d e , A s t r o n o m y a n d

Astrophysics are set to be

revolutionized by this big boss of

all telescopes.

In many ways, SKA's scope is

like a large particle physics

facility such as CERN with very

long term goals and wide

participation from member

countries. NCRA, with its vast

experience and expertise in radio-

astronomy, has been associated

with the SKA project since its

conception, and holds a Full

Membership position in the SKA

Organisation at present. In fact,

NCRA's perspective has been to

concentrate on areas and topics

where there is direct and good

s y n e r g y w i t h p o s s i b l e

improvements at the GMRT.

There is already strong interest

and vigorous activity in India in

the research areas constituting

the two main science drivers

identified for SKA : pulsars and

the Epoch of Reionization.

-Prof. Yashwant Gupta

Amazing facts about the SKA:

v The SKA Data Processing

Unit will run with the

processing power of 100

million personal

computers.

v The net data generated by

SKA will be 10 times the

data transferred on the

entire Internet as of 2014.

v The SKA will use enough

optical fibre to wrap twice

around the earth...

v The aperture arrays in

the SKA could produce

more than 100 times the

global internet traffic.

THE BIGGEST EYE ON THE SKY: SKA

The Moonwalk

5Reality leaves a lot to the imagination

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